Would like advice regarding sale of mineral rights

Colorado Mineral Rights Weld County, CO
1

We have recently received several decent offers from unsolicited buyers to sell our mineral rights

I have a few questions--

How do we evaluate the offers to get the best price?

I've read about professionals who assist in the sale--what is the normal commission structure?

How do we research the buyers to make sure they're reliable?

Do we simply work with our lawyer in Colorado to look at the offers?

How do we do the final exchange of deed and $$--do you recommend an escrow account?

What else should we be thinking about regarding this sale?

2

BirdieZ,

As far as evaluating the offers to get the best price, I would recommend hiring an independent consultant (e.g. petroleum engineer) to perform a valuation on your minerals. Most charge on an hourly basis with experienced professionals charging in the range of $150 - $200/hr. They will research offset activity, permits, leasing activity, oil and gas reserves, etc. and can perform a discounted cash flow analysis to provide a range of values based on likely outcomes. They should also be able to advise how that compares to comparable sales to give you the data to make an informed decision regarding offers you've received. As with any real estate transaction you should also consider hiring a lawyer to help you navigate the sales process, agreements, and deeds to protect your interests to make sure you aren't giving up more than you intend. Again, you'll likely pay on an hourly basis for their services.

I would also highly recommend closing in escrow if possible through a bank or other neutral third party. That way you won't be taken advantage of. Be sure to research the companies thoroughly (most reputable mineral buyers have informative websites with bios and information on the people you are dealing with). If they are close lipped and this info is not available, you will have to decide if you are comfortable doing business with them.

There are several standard steps in the process. I will send you a friend request and DM you with a few links so you can do some additional reading on your own. I'm happy to also answer any other questions you might have. Also, consider that if you don't need the money you might be better off holding onto the minerals vs. selling. You also have the option to sell as little or as much of your interest if you do decide to go that route (e.g. you don't have to necessarily sell it all at once, you could sell half and keep half to hedge your bet).

Good luck!

Matt Sands

Minerals Management

3

lots of good questions. You can do the exchange via an attorney, who face to face if you feel the need.

To research the buyers, you can google them, you can also look up how many properties they own in Weld, or ask about them in this forum.

If you already have offers and are trying to evaluate which is best, you probably only need an attorney to review the agreements. The reality is that the agreements should be pretty straight forward and take minimum amount of legal work to review.

The offers should line up side by side and be comparable. If you are selling your rights, which is offering the most cash?

if you have any additional questions or would like more detail, give me a shout 303-500-1898 or email me at jbeunier@frontrange-ep.com

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Thank you for the speedy replies--will follow up with you later today!

5

Matt, I have many of the same questions as Robin_S. Would you mind sending the same information to me? Thank you!

7

Hey Robin-

Really the only way to know the true value of your minerals is to have a engineered mineral valuation conducted on your property. Be cautious of quick, ā€œback of the envelopeā€ valuations done based off of lease bonus multiples, past production checks, or taxes as these types of valuations are likely coming from people who want to buy your minerals and sell them at a profit. Whenever someone offers you a ā€œfairā€ valuation they should be able to provide the SEC compliant proven reserves forecast for that property. If they canā€™t, they are guessing.

I hope this helps. Good luck!

Craig

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What is the SEC compliant proven reserves forecast?

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FYI - although I like the guys at Petrovalues, I think his statement is rather off base. A sec compliant valuation is not ā€œmarket valueā€ nor is it the value you would receive over time if you held your minerals over the full life of their development.

SEC value is the requirements the SEC has placed on reporting companies for their reserve reports, it requires companies to use prices from the first of the month of the previous twelve months as their price deck (essentially a flat price deck based on the last yearā€™s prices). Additionally, any ā€˜PUDā€™ proven undeveloped properties must be properties that will be in the drill schedule within the next 5 years from the date of the report - in other words, the reporting company must have line of sight to developing he wells in 5 years.

Market value of minerals is in itā€™s purest sense is exactly that - what would an armā€™s length buyer pay for your minerals. The actual value of your minerals is truly dependent on perspective - what value are you looking for - the value you can get if you sell them today? The value you can collect over the life of the minerals? The value that you could get at some date in the future after some event, like drilling/development?

All of these ā€œvaluesā€ are dependent on a multitude of variables, driven by the quality of the underlying reserves, probability those reserves will be developed, the timing of the development, and local activity. Utilizing offsetting well performance, and other accepted engineering methods, you would determine the what the wells are capable of producing, and then try to estimate forward commodity prices, timing, etc. All of these and other variables can impact value or perceived value and therefore what someone is willing to pay for the minerals - there are many more scenarios than what is consider under an SEC valuation.

I agree that ā€œback of the envelop valuationsā€ are just that - estimates/guesses. Some mineral buyers use silly ways to come up with a price they would pay for your minerals, such as multiples of your lease bonus, multiples of your monthly checks, etc. Most of these are rather naive, but then again, there are alot of deals that are transacted on these methodsā€¦so that kind of makes them ā€˜market valueā€™ if someone decides to sell.

To highlight the folly of using ā€˜lease bonusā€™ as a method to come up with the value of a mineral, lease bonuses tend to go down as the royalty rate in a lease goes up - in other words, if you ask for an 1/8 (12.5%) royalty, you may get a great lease bonus - letā€™s say $10,000/acre as a random number for this example. BUt letā€™s say you want and get 1/4 (25%) royalty, well then youā€™re going to probably get a much lower lease bonus, letā€™s say a $1,000/acre. Well if someone is going to buy you minerals based on some random multiple of your lease bonus, they would way over pay for the acreage leased at 1/8 and $10,000/acre as compared to 1/4 and a $1000 per acre, because when the wells are drilled and royalty payments start coming in, the 1/4 lease is going to produce twice the amount of cash flow as the 3/16 lease. Yet the mineral buyer would have payed 10 times as much if they used the lease bonus as the basis for valuation.

Additionally, non-reservoir items impact the value of minerals. The reputation of the operator can impact the value, for example, Chesapeake has a pretty bad rep with mineral owners, and some buyers wonā€™t buy minerals under old Chessie. Political risks, such as the overhang of prop 97 is weighing on the market at the moment and affecting prices in Colorado (make sure you vote NO against this ridiculous proposition in November).

so at the end of the day, the market value of your minerals dependsā€¦on what you want to do and when, as well as a whole bunch of items driving the perceived value of those minerals to buyersā€¦ You already made a step in the right direction by reaching out on this website and asking the question, the key is to get educated on what you own and see what the potential is (thatā€™s where petrovalues may be of help), and once you have a feeling for what the underlying quality of the rock looks like, and what the other variables are, you will be armed with the knowledge to negotiate the best deal with mineral buyers.

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10

The best appraisal is NOT an engineered one, rather one based on actual SALES and those are available - although difficult sometimes to getā€¦rather are time consuming.

Try the Turrett Company. https://www.turrett.com/

SEC values are based on reserves but do not include any resources or other values and based on 10% discount rateā€¦far higher than most investors will stomach.

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what do you mean by ā€œfar higher than most investors will stomachā€

12

why the edit of my post?

13

Jeffrey,

Couldnā€™t agree with you more, an engineered evaluation is not something you need to do to lease or sell as the value of the reserves is not the deciding factor. Like you said it is, what a buyer(s) will pay, that is the current market value.

I wish the values were based off of the reserves as owners would be receiving a lot more for leasing and selling their minerals, but thats not how this particular market works.

Anyhow, just wanted to say very informative post and this thread is a good discussion to have.

Cam

14

I would say based off many years of experience the simple way to valuate the minerals is by the current market. Minerals sell all over the country by this specific formula: Take the lease going rate and multiply it by 2 or 3 and if you are in a hot play like South Adams/ North Arapahoe that have leases going for $3K then your minerals would be worth to a buyer between $6,000 on low end and $9,000 on high end per net mineral acre. DM if you want help from either a Landman, Lawyer or Reserves Engineer as I know many of them. Hope this helps.

15

Jason there is a huge flaw in this concept - look at any offer and the initial lease bonus is in Walt related to the royalty rate. Minerals with higher royalty rates are worth more than those with lower royalty rates all else being held constant. Itā€™s intuitive that if an acre produces more cash flow (as a higher royalty would provide over a lower royalty) then it is worth more as value is driven by cash flow.

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16

The typical discount rate of an investor in a wasting asset like oil would be 18% or higher, If investing in an apartment, I can expect to earn income for years, probably with increasing rents over time, and at the end of the holding period sell the investment for part or more of the money invested. But for oil, it is anticipated to be a less and less income and at the end of a holding period, either it is making no money, or, it is making very little. The investor who has no executive control over the property cannot drill additional wells, only the operator. So a passive investor is working at the whim of the operator and could be sitting on valuable property otherwise.

17

My apologies I should have clarified, I meant non producing minerals.

I can assure the audience that 90% of sellers/buyers use this formula still.

Producing minerals or Orriā€™s are a multiple

of net Cash flow.

18

I would think they would Rely upon the SPEE Parameters survey. But for non-producing tracts, sales are only reliable method.

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THE FOLLOWING PUBLICATIONS ARE AVAILABLE FOR SALE THROUGH THE SPEE OFFICE The 2018 Parameters Survey is now avaiā€¦

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